Jerilyn

Lila likes any kind of treat, but nothing gets her as excited as a Sam's Yams sweet potato chew.

I am so sorry! I loved seeing the pictures you posted of him and his adventures. You gave him a wonderful life.

I use "different" kibble as treats too. Small or local pet food stores (not PetCo or PetSmart) often have all kinds of small sample bags of kibble. Whenever I go to my favorite store I ask for couple samples. They are always very generous with them, I assume they get them from the vendors for free. A small handful tossed on the floor is a good distraction treat for when I am leaving the house.

I don't have anything helpful to add, but my Lila wanted to say Hi to your Lila and tell her to be good and let Momma get some sleep.

Yes! I had this issue with Lila when I first got her. I think it was just a settling in issue. She goes much more frequently now, but still not every time I put her out. Sometimes she still doesn't go pee on the first out of the morning and chooses to wait until after she has breakfast and her after breakfast nap before she goes. She drinks enough and gets water on her food. I am just grateful for her large and healthy bladder.

Slightly off topic question, but only slightly…. Do female racers ever have a heat cycle? Or are they started on hormones before they would have their first cycle? They obviously fall into the "spayed later" category, but I don't hear about them getting mammary tumors. Could there be some correlation with the hormones helping to prevent them? Molly is adorable!

I'm sorry you had a rough night, but I'm glad they were able to patch him up. Lila's wound was in a very similar place, just a little higher up. I bought a pair of men's pajama pants with a drawstring waist. She didn't mess with her wound at all, so she didn't wear them for longer than just trying them on, but the drawstring seemed to hold them in place very well. It didn't seem like they would have slipped out of place. I hope Sam's healing is speedy and uneventful.

As as recent member of the Attacked While Walking by an Offleash Dog Club, I wish every dog owner would follow those suggestions.

My suggestion is to take the dog to some public building with big, wide, solid stairs to the entrance. Because they are wide open and usually not very steep most dogs find them pretty easy to do. Lots of practice going up and down them could make the dog confident enough to do the stairs in your home. I took Lila to the local college campus to do this. There were lots of good buildings to practice with (plus lots of squirrels to chase in between). It really helped her confidence. By the end of our outing she was even willing to do the scary open-backed wooden stairs on a deck. Good luck!

I use the gel and just put it on my finger and rub it on Lila's teeth as best as I can. I think the spray would freak her out. The instructions on the bottle say that the crazy licking your dog will do after applying it is actually spreading it around to all surfaces of the teeth. My understanding (and it could be wrong) is that this stuff works by sitting on the teeth, that's why no food or drink before or after, so I don't really brush with it. I do brush with an enzymatic toothpaste every few days. You can find some good prices on-line. The $20 or so for a bottle is way cheaper than a dental.

Lila has hers and I wish she didn't. They stick out really far and I am just waiting for them to get caught on something. I call them her Doom Claws. She does use them to hold stuff she is chewing on though.

Hi - We're doing OK. My mom had a good night sleep, Lila and I not so much. She had a hard time getting comfortable. For a while she would whine unless I was laying right next to her. But she took her pills like a champ and ate her breakfast (in the living room instead of the kitchen) and the wound looks really good. I went out to get her a tag collar and ID tag and got a tentative tail wag when I came home. I'm sad I can't find her tag collar. I walked the route from the attack to home twice, nothing. If someone picked it up, I would think they would call, there are three phone numbers on the tags. I did speak to the owner of the other dog. She feels horrible and gave me check for the vet bill. But she also said she knows her dog is reactive to other dogs, yet let her loose in the yard. That's the part that gets me. It would be different if the dog slipped out the door or something. I left a message for the animal officer. Thanks again for all your good thoughts. They're working!

Thanks! I know Sharon too. I volunteered for her when she worked at the Zoo. I'm in Ashwaubenon, we have some kind of community services officer who handles animal stuff. Boxer shorts! Got any with Santa on them? Jennie I was thinking of that. What size boxer shorts does an average size houndie girl wear?

We're back home. Lila did great at the vet's. She got internal sutures, staples, and antibiotics and pain killers. She had a very small supper and went potty and now is zonked out in bed. I really miss the jingle of her tags. I probably won't sleep tonight because I will be up listening to see if she is messing with the wound. There's still no one home at the offender's house. I will call Animal Contol in the morning. Warning to the squeemish - wound photos below. Before After My poor girl after a very bad day Thank you for all the good thoughts! Mom and I are going to have pizza and beer.

Lila is at the vet right now getting cleaned up and stitched up. My mom was walking her and a dog came out of his yard, chased them down the street, and attacked Lila. She has a wound on her hip/thigh area. It didn't look deep, but is big enough and needed trimming and cleaning so they have to put her under a light anesthesia. She will be able to come home tonight. It is minor compared to what some of you have dealt with, but I would appreciate any good thoughts you can give for my girl. The owner of the other dog said she would pay the bill. I did go to the house, but no one was home. The dog looks like some kind of boxer mix. Lila lost her tag collar and tags in the scuffle. I couldn't see them on the road, I'm hoping the other owner picked them up. Lila is hurt and scared, my Mom is traumatized, and I'm worried about my girl. I'll check back once she is home and settled. Thanks, Jerilyn

Lila is not a leg lifter and she's got really good aim. She can put her pee on a single leaf.

I call Lila the Postal Inspector because she wants to sniff every vertical surface. She usually doesn't linger in one spot too long though unless it is something really interesting. She seems to get her sniffing in at the beginning of the walk then we move along quite quickly. For us, the sniffs are just as important as the exercise. I have a fenced yard that she runs zommies in and plays in everyday so we are not relying on the walks for all her exercise..

Lila occasionally whines when she sees another dog, never a greyhound, just other breeds. She doesn't have anything else going on at the same time (like pulling toward the other dog, tail tucked, etc) to give me other clues. Her posture seems neutral to me. I can't tell if she wants to meet the other dog, eat it, or is scared. After a second or two of whining she goes back to whatever she was doing or wanders off. She is not a vocal girl, the only other time she whines is when she is super excited about going for a ride or walk. Any ideas what she wants with those other dogs?

I use the pre-moistened pet wipes at least once a week all over and do "touch-ups" on her snoot and legs if they are yucky from chewing a bully stick or something. Lila loves it. She comes running over when she sees the box of wipes.

Great picture BrianRke! Lila stretches front and back whenever she gets out of bed. Unless there is something really urgent she needs to attend to, like a hamburger. I heard a doctor say recently that we humans should take a clue from our dogs and stretch more. It's good for all of us.

I will have to watch more closely, but Lila's elbows clunk on the floor so I think the rump end goes down first. I agree with Robin1017's suggestion of shaping the sit. It really helped Lila understand that what I wanted was that one fleeting instant when she was in or near a sit when getting up and down.

I'm glad I don't have the only dog who scares herself by dropping treats on the floors. Such sensitive girls!

Lila loves Sam's Yams sweet potato chews! She does get gassy after having one if she hasn't had one in a while. When she is getting them more regularly they don't give her the stinkies. I think her belly just has to get used to them. I give her the Big Boyz ones. She gets through the regular size ones too quickly.

Ive had Lila for about 15 months and in that time she has had many different sleeping spots the kitchen, my bedroom, the living room. She didnt want anything to do with my bedroom when I first got her. At first I was disappointed that she didnt want to sleep by me but I got over it. It was more important that she was content and comfortable. She was sleeping in the kitchen but stopped that when a greeting card fell on her. Now she has a bed in the living room and one in my bedroom and she uses both of them based on criteria only she knows. I guess my point is that it really doesnt matter where the dog sleeps and its very likely that it will change again.